Running as Spiritual Discipline

AM Run

          Cold blast on my face,

                   Knocked back on my heels—awake!

                             Love the morning run.

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Peace, Prayer and Community

“Don’t worry over anything whatever; whenever you pray tell God every detail of your needs in thankful prayer, and the peace of God, which surpasses human understanding, will keep constant guard over your hearts and minds as they rest in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7, Phillips).

Could peace and identity be key ingredients for genuine community?  Could prayer be a prime catalyst for ushering in peace and identity?  Comments from my last post got me thinking about these things (thanks to you who commented). 

Christ-followers will have the best impact on culture if the Christian community itself offers something different.  But do we offer something different?  The more personal question is do I offer something different?  Too often the answer is, no, I don’t.

This realization hit home early this morning as I grimaced in pain due to the tension I’m carrying in my neck and shoulders.  Tension coming from child behavioral issues, job ambiguity, and taxes (oh my, taxes are a grind!).  All these thoughts began coalescing into a cacophony of concern causing me to reach for the Ibuprofen (and a cup of coffee).  But another result of the tension was being snappy with my wife and five year old son (whose birthday is today, by the way).  So is being snappy with my wife and family offering the culture anything different?  Is being snappy, also called “grumpy,” drawing people to what’s inside me?  Of course not, I’m being just like everyone else—worried and joyless.  If all my other Christian friends are the same way, then we have a community of nothing different than anyone else; we have a community that no one really wants to be a part of, even me.

So what is the antidote to this worried joylessness?  The simple answer is prayer, but there’s more to it.  Another rendering of Philippians 4:6-7 is: 

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.  Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand.  His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus” (NLT).

The word “peace” is hard to define, but it includes the sense of quietness and rest.  God is inviting us to allow Him to quiet our minds so that we can truly be at rest.  We can’t truly rest when we’re worried about stuff we have little to no control of. 

The phrase “live in Christ Jesus” implies we are to deeply identify with Christ Jesus Himself.  This is not a mere acknowledgement of Christ, but a deepened understanding of what He has done for us and what being indwelt by the Holy Spirit means to our lives. 

All of this is catalyzed, or initiated, by prayer.  God is inviting us to enter into this rest and deepened identity, but notice that He doesn’t barge in or force it on us; instead, He lovingly invites us in if we choose to accept His invitation.  Granted, along with prayer we also need to read and understand His Word, but perhaps establishing genuine community begins with each individual bowing in prayer.  In doing this, we then experience that quietness and rest in our own souls which will emanate to others we have contact with; and this will be attractive to the larger community.

So pray on, dear friend, pray on!

Church History and Martyrs

“Error never shows itself in its naked reality, in order not to be discovered.  On the contrary, it dresses elegantly, so that the unwary may be led to believe that it is more truthful than truth itself” (Irenaeus of Lyons, c. 180). 

Church history is one of the seminary classes I’m taking this semester.  One of the study questions is:  Why is studying church history important?  What’s funny is even before I reviewed the study questions I was already being moved by text in my history book.  Even though I’ve only been in class for a week and am by no means an expert, I do have a few observations that I believe are important to faith today.

Many of today’s anti-Christian tactics date back to the first and second centuries after Pentecost.  For instance, one of the first accusations against Christianity was that followers were obstinate and uncultured barbarians.  The early apologists, Felix, Martyr, and Origen, to name a few, mounted up responses to these accusations.  They successfully showed how Christianity in general, and how Jesus specifically, was relevant to all strata of society.  Their responses were not based in trying to inflict harm or spew verbal venom, but were instead well thought out and articulate treatises to a watching world.  In fact, Justin Martyr was quoted as saying. “We do not seek to flatter you,…but request that you judge on the basis of a proper and thorough investigation.”   

Back then, just like today, the majority of accusations were based in ignorance and fear of the faith rather than in studied understanding of the finer aspects of following Christ.  And isn’t it ironic how much of today’s mainstream media casts Christians in a similar light as the pagans from A.D 100? 

Another interesting aspect was various movements proclaiming to have a special knowledge of the Supreme Being.  Back then, just as now, these claims were based on nothing more than whim and fancy (the two I’m specifically referring to are Gnosticism and Marcion ca. A.D. 117-138).  These are not unlike some of today’s fad religions and cults.  In fact, there are movements today where people believe in a pantheistic approach to God, meaning they think God is in everything.  Granted, He is everywhere-present (see Psalms 18, 19, and 69) but God is not that rock or that tree, and I am certainly not God nor will I ever become a god! 

One key I’ve learned over the years is if someone is proclaiming to have special or extra knowledge that is not backed up by the Bible, then they’re probably trying to construct a system that either worships themselves or excuses their immorality.  Either way, these are old tactics meant to cause us to stray from the truth. 

Another fact that hit me upside the head was the severe persecution in the first three centuries (that’s as far as I’ve gotten so far).  From Pentecost on, various Roman emperors employed an arsenal of cruelty to get Christians to either recant their faith or die.  That’s right, I said die; these people lost their lives because of their faith, and many of them died horribly cruel and lingering deaths.  These weren’t people who had friends or colleagues simply criticizing them because they followed Jesus, they were instead being turned over to the authorities to be tortured and eventually executed for their stand in Christ.  Wow!  I’ve had my share of barbs over the years because of my faith, but nothing even remotely to what these early, brave brothers and sisters in the Lord endured. 

What’s even more astounding is the martyrdom occurring right now throughout the world.  Many of our brothers and sisters are suffering greatly for their faith even as I’m writing this.

While I realize these are two big topics, I’ve run out of time for today.  But what I want to explore, providing I get some comments, is how should we respond to the current criticisms leveled against Christianity?  How should a 21^st Century apologist respond?  How are many of them responding and are their responses turning hearts to the Lord or merely driving deeper wedges between Christianity and the skeptical world? 

And what about martyrs:  What debts of gratitude do we owe them and how should we respond to the martyrdom occurring right now in the world? 

I welcome any comments you may have provided they’re civil and constructive.

Dreams and Dreamers

I’m a dreamer.  As such, I face disappointments because the dreams never quite come true.  Maybe I’d do well to remember a quote from C.S. Lewis, “Once a dream has become a fact I suppose it loses something.  This isn’t affection:  we long and long for a thing and when it comes it turns out to be just a pleasant incident very much like others.”  This is a sober thought because it reminds me to question if my dreams are my god of if God is my dream.  By this I mean am I dreaming the vision God has for my life or am I merely indulging in distracting daydreams?  And what does it mean when the dreams don’t quite come true?

Perhaps Moses is a good example to draw from.  Whether he’s categorized as a dreamer or not, he still had powerful visions from God that drove his overall motives.  These motives fueled his thoughts and dreams of fulfilling God’s vision and therefore, I think, he was a dreamer. 

But an interesting thing in reading Exodus is I sense that things never quite turned out the way Moses was thinking they would.  Pharaoh didn’t just load the Hebrews up with a bunch of stuff and then let them go; he instead made things quite difficult for Moses and the Hebrews. He’d make promises then break them.  He’d repent then almost immediately change his mind.  And when he did let the Hebrews go, he again changed his mind and pursued after them.

The Israelite stint in the desert wasn’t exactly as Moses had pictured it either.  He and the Israelite nation wandered in a hostile wilderness for a very long time, eating stuff like manna and then an over-abundance of quail and also getting water from a rock.  On top of that and amid other difficulties, Moses didn’t even get to enter into the Promised Land, Joshua had that privilege.  Even so, Moses never gave up; he clung to his God-ordained dreams of Israelite freedom. 

The disciples also seemed to be dreamers, otherwise, why would they have remained committed all their lives to a vision that ended up in martyrdom?  They could see the positive impacts of genuine Christian faith.  They also saw and experienced the suffering that came with it, but the vision, the dream of success, overpowered their fear.  They could see beyond tomorrow and next week to a horizon that stretches for generations.

I can’t help but think that not only was their dreaming God-inspired, but their ability to have a hope that overcame the fear was Holy Spirit empowered as well.  “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).  

But like Moses, their dreams didn’t play out as I think they originally thought they would.  They were thinking that Jesus was going to overthrow the Roman government and establish an Israelite rule right there in Jerusalem.  Obviously, the revolution Jesus instigated was a revolution of the heart, not of the government. 

Maybe my dreams aren’t turning out exactly as I had planned either; in fact, they’re not in most every category.  But I still have a strong pull these dreams are purposed and are fuel for ongoing hope and action.  But the temptation is to give up on them and succumb to failure.  To counter this, I look to these biblical examples, wipe my tears away and pray; and then keep moving.  “Do what you can do, and pray for what you cannot do” (St. Augustine). 

So what’s the take-away here?  I believe having dreams is good, provided the dreams themselves don’t become our God.  As we continually and honestly share our dreams with God via prayer, and listen and apply His direction, then I say, “Dream on!”  And to quote C.S. Lewis again, “For broken dreams the cure is, dream again and deeper.” 

Totally Surrendered?

What does it mean to be totally surrendered to God?  I know I’m not the only person who’s ever wrestled with this. Still, every time we sing a worship song in church with lyrics to this affect, I always ask myself, “Am I totally surrendered to God?”  I’m raising my hands in praise to God but I’m still asking God just what does a totally surrendered life look like.

Perhaps my image of being totally surrendered is too monk-like. You know, a really surrendered life is cloistered away in isolation with nothing on the “to-do” list but pray, read Scripture, and maybe chant.  While this might be fun for a day or two, I don’t think it is a definition of being totally surrendered to God.  In fact, we see Jesus in what’s known as the Great Commission sending His disciples out into the world (see Matthew 28:18-20).  Notice He isn’t sending them away from the world.

So being totally surrendered involves some, well, involvement.  A totally surrendered person is not holed up somewhere, isolated away from the world.  Rather, he is a participant in the world; he is actively engaged in the turbulent sea of humanity.  So then an aspect of a surrendered life is one that, while engaged in human activity and interaction, still reflects Christ.  A surrendered life has evidence of the Holy Spirit being active in it (see Galatians 5:22-23).  Such a life will be continually reflecting joy, peace, and love.  What’s more, this life will also reflect integrity by speaking and living truthfully (see Ephesians 4:15 and 1 John 3:18). 

Another major ingredient in a surrendered life is obedience—obedience to God and His commandments (see 1 John 5:1-5).  If we profess being a Christ-follower and yet disobey God by lying or cheating or speaking evil of someone, then we know we are not totally surrendered, or worse.    

Recognizing that this obviously isn’t an exhaustive list, it at least has some check points:

1. Are we somehow actively engaged in humanity?
2. Are we reflecting evidence of the Holy Spirit being active in our lives?
3. Are we living with integrity?
4. Are we obedient to God?

As we compare our lives to this list, we must remember that our God is a gracious God and does not expect perfection, He does, however, expect faithfulness (see Hebrews 11:6 and James 1:6).